God and the Living Beings - The Eternal Relationship
The profound science of self-realization begins with understanding who we are in relation to the Supreme. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the living beings are not independent actors, but eternal, minute parts and parcels of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, meant to exist in a relationship of joyful, loving service.
The Whole and the Part
The fundamental identity of all living entities is that they are emanations from the Supreme Lord. Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that while the living beings share the same spiritual quality as God, they are the marginal energy—infinitesimal sparks compared to the infinite, supreme fire.
- The living beings are parts and parcels of the Lord. They are therefore one with the Lord. In the Bhagavad-gita the living beings in all varieties of bodies have been claimed by the Lord as His sons.
- As His separated expansions, the living beings are part and parcel of the Lord.
- All of us living beings are differentiated expansions of the Lord, but our affection for the Lord is submerged within us, artificially covered by the material quality of ignorance.
- The difference between the two (the Supreme Lord and the living being) has been analyzed as the difference between the whole and the part and parcel.
Rejecting False Equality
A dangerous misconception in spiritual philosophy is the idea that the soul and God are absolutely identical in every respect. Śrīla Prabhupāda strongly refutes the Māyāvāda (monistic) theory, asserting that the tiny living being, who is prone to illusion, can never be equal to the Supreme Lord, who is the master of illusion.
- An actual Vaisnava cannot tolerate any philosophy that claims God and the living being to be one and the same.
- The living beings are not all in all. They are undoubtedly parts of the Supreme Lord and are qualitatively one with Him, yet they are subject to His control. Thus they are never equal to the Lord or one with Him.
- Both the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the living beings are undoubtedly qualitatively one, but the Lord is the controller of the illusory energy, whereas the living entity is controlled by the illusory energy.
- There are so many unscrupulous imaginations on the part of the monists to endeavor to put both the Lord and the living being in the same category.
The Cause of Material Suffering
Why do eternal, spiritual beings suffer in a temporary world? Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that when the living being misuses their minute independence and desires to imitate the Lord as an enjoyer, they are placed under the control of the external, illusory energy (māyā).
- When the living being desires to be an enjoyer of material energy (illusory phenomena), the Lord covers the living being in the mystery of forgetfulness, and thus the living being misinterprets the gross body and subtle mind to be his own self.
- The living being is in the state of forgetfulness of his relation with God due to his being overly attracted to material sense gratification from time immemorial.
- The Lord is the center of all the affection of all living beings, who are all His parts and parcels. When the flow of natural affection for the Lord is clogged by desires to imitate His Lordship, one is said to be in maya, or illusion.
- The Lord is the only enjoyer, and all others are enjoyed. The living beings are predominated enjoyers. But the eternally conditioned souls, forgetful of this constitutional position, have strong aspirations to enjoy.
The Supreme Maintainer and Friend
Even when the living entity falls into the darkest ignorance, the Lord never abandons them. Śrīla Prabhupāda points out that God expands as the Paramātmā (Supersoul) to sit within the heart of every living being, patiently acting as their ultimate maintainer, witness, and well-wishing friend.
- He (God) is known as the constant companion of the living being because the Paramatma fully cooperates with the atma.
- The Bhagavad-gita and all other revealed scriptures say that the Lord accompanies every living being in His localized aspect of Paramatma, the Supersoul.
- He holds no one as very dear and no one as inimical. He has no one for His own relative, and no one is alien to Him. He is actually the soul of the soul of all living entities. Thus He is the auspicious friend of all living beings.
- God is described here as paribhuh, the greatest of all. No one is greater than or equal to Him. Other living beings are described here as beggars who ask goods from the Lord. The Lord supplies the things the living entities desire.
Reclaiming the Fallen Souls
The material creation is not meant to be a permanent prison, but a reformatory. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the Lord continually descends, or sends His representatives and scriptures, to awaken the dormant Kṛṣṇa consciousness of the living beings and invite them back to the spiritual world.
- When Visnu, the Personality of Godhead, appears in the material world, He comes to deliver the conditioned living beings who are under the material energy.
- He (God) descends only to recall these materialistic living beings back to His kingdom, and intelligent persons take advantage of this facility offered by the Personality of Godhead to all living beings.
- Sometimes He incarnates Himself or empowers a suitable living being to act for Him, but in either case the purpose is the same: the Lord wants the suffering living being to go back home, back to Godhead.
- Within the heart of every living being the Lord Himself as the Supersoul (Paramatma) becomes the spiritual master, and from without He becomes the spiritual master in the shape of scriptures, saints and the initiator spiritual master.
The Ultimate Perfection
The culmination of spiritual life occurs when the living being completely gives up the false attempt to enjoy independently. Śrīla Prabhupāda states that by surrendering to the Lord and reviving their eternal relationship, the living being achieves the ultimate perfection of full freedom and transcendental love.
- A false life either as a lord or a mendicant meets with frustration until the living being comes to his senses and surrenders to the Lord as His eternal servant. Then the Lord liberates him and saves him from repeated birth and death.
- Every living being is eternally related with God in one of five different transcendental humors, namely santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhurya. We have already discussed these five kinds of humors in relationship with the Personality of Godhead.
- When a living being is thus graced by the Lord, he is placed in his proper constitutional position to enjoy eternal spiritual life.
- In his (the living being's) liberated state he renders service to the Lord in transcendental love and thus enjoys a life of full freedom, even sometimes on an equal level with the Lord or sometimes more than the Lord.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Śrīla Prabhupāda masterfully delineates the absolute and eternal relationship between the Supreme Lord and the living beings. As the marginal energy of the Lord, every living entity is a fragmental part and parcel of the Supreme, sharing His exact spiritual qualities of eternity, knowledge, and bliss. However, a fatal error occurs when the living being, bewildered by false ego, assumes that qualitative oneness means quantitative equality. The Lord is infinite and the supreme controller of all energies, whereas the living being is infinitesimal and highly susceptible to the bewildering influence of māyā. When the living entity desires to imitate God as an independent enjoyer, they are plunged into the material world of repeated birth and death. Yet, the Lord's compassion is boundless. Expanding as the Paramātmā, He eternally accompanies the conditioned soul in the heart, acting as the supreme witness, provider, and well-wishing friend. Furthermore, the Lord repeatedly descends through His incarnations and empowered representatives to broadcast the Vedic knowledge, offering the suffering souls the chance to awaken from their illusion. The ultimate perfection of existence is achieved when the living being abandons all false attempts at lordship, fully surrenders to the Supreme Lord, and is reinstated in their original constitutional position, eternally relishing one of the five transcendental humors in the supreme abode of Godhead.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category God and the Living Beings. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.